Users of mobile communication devices, such as for example cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, smart phones, tablet computers, and the like, are typically capable of receiving inbound messages in a wide range of locations and under a wide variety of personal circumstances. However, in at least some locations and under at least some circumstances, receipt of an inbound message can require the recipient to change his or her current behavior or location in order to receive the message in an appropriate manner. For example, if the inbound message is a voice call, and the recipient is in a meeting or in some other location or circumstance under which receiving a voice call is not appropriate, the recipient can be required to decide whether to reject or ignore the voice call (for example, by allowing it to be directed to the recipient's voice mail box) or to excuse himself or herself from the meeting in order to receive the call in a more appropriate location. Lacking any knowledge of the subject or content of the inbound message, the recipient is typically required to guess whether the inbound message merits the effort involved in changing location and/or circumstances to receive the inbound message directly instead of delaying receipt via a voice mail box or the like.
While a recipient of an inbound message may be able to make a basic determination about the priority of the inbound message, for example based on the caller or sender of the inbound message, the time of day, etc., such information generally cannot be used to distinguish with sufficient specificity between possible levels of prioritization of the inbound message. For example, even if an inbound voice call is indicated by the mobile communication device as originating from the recipient's spouse's device, the recipient typically has no way of knowing whether or not the inbound message is urgent and requiring of immediate attention from the recipient (e.g., if an accident has occurred, an important opportunity has come up, etc.), or if his or her spouse is calling about a relatively low urgency matter (e.g., meal plans, an invitation received from friends to attend a sporting event or a movie, etc.) that the recipient can safely address with some delay if the recipients current location or circumstances make receiving a voice call difficult or inappropriate.